A Baton Rouge judge who’s been removed from conducting trials while under investigation for alleged misconduct has accepted a hefty pay stipend just before her suspension.
The same bonus was made available to all Louisiana judges, thanks to the largesse of legislators who’ve routinely boosted the judiciary’s pay. This one’s been under scrutiny because judges can receive it before doing barely a month’s worth of work in the fiscal year that started July 1.
The Louisiana Supreme Court disqualified 19th Judicial District Court Judge Eboni Johnson Rose on an interim basis. In a 5-2 vote on Aug. 6, justices took action based upon the recommendation of the Louisiana Judiciary Commission, which is made up of Supreme Court justices and has received multiple complaints about Rose.
An official with the state Supreme Court confirmed that Rose received a stipend of $14,691 on July 31. The Louisiana Legislature approved a one-time payment for all city, parish, district court and appellate judges as well as Supreme Court justices.
Rose has not responded to messages left at her court office and with her campaign. An extended investigation could cast a pall over her run for a seat of the state’s First Circuit Court of Appeal. Rose, a Democrat, is facing Kelly Balfour, a Republican, in the Nov. 5 election.
A potential permanent ouster of Rose could break up a family triad on the 19th Judicial District Court. Her father is Judge Don Johnson, and her uncle is Chief Judge Ron Johnson. .
According to WAFB-TV, higher courts have overturned Rose’s rulings because of mistakes made during trial and sentencing. They include allowing a jury to continue deliberating and change its mind after its members found a defendant not guilty. After Rose issued a conviction , another judge declared a mistrial.
In another trial, Rose convicted a Baton Rouge police officer of “misdemeanor” malfeasance, although the crime is designated a felony in state law.
Rose has also been engaged in a war of words with East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore.
WAFB obtained documents in which Rose, who is Black, implied that Moore’s office targeted Black people and wanted to “stick every n—er in jail.”
Associate Justices William Crain and Jay McCallum wrote concurring opinions in which they said Rose should be removed from trials without pay. But because state law doesn’t allow that option, she will continue to receive her salary while the investigation takes place.
Rose will have to pay the court for the cost of her investigation, which the order said “shall be resolved by the Commission within six months, unless good cause is shown.”
The stipend Rose accepted came out of a protracted fight among state lawmakers who had first been asked to consider a permanent pay raise for judges. That proposal fell flat politically because a salary increase for public school teachers had already been snubbed.
Instead, legislators settled on a stipend for judges on the condition they all complete a workload study to determine if too few or too many judges are assigned to each district and appellate court. Gov. Jeff Landry vetoed that study requirement but kept the stipend intact.
An argument among Louisiana Judiciary Compensation Commission members followed over whether judges should be able to receive their stipends up front, in installments or at the end of the fiscal year. Those in favor of an immediate lump sum payment won the day, allowing the stipends to go out in July — the first month of the state’s fiscal year.
Among those who accepted the stipend was James Genovese, right as he was leaving his associate justice seat on the Louisiana Supreme Court to become the new president of Northwestern State University.
Genovese brushed off suggestions that he hadn’t earned the stipend after resigned from the court within the first month of the fiscal year.
“I have served 29 years as a judge,” Genovese said.”I’ve earned it.”
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